coastal erosion, coastal hazards, extreme coastal storms, ocean waves
Scientia Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor Mitchell Harley is an expert in coastal erosion and how it impacts coastlines worldwide. His research entails the use of innovative technologies to improve understanding and management of coastal erosion and other coastal hazards. This includes new coastal remote sensing techniques, wave climate downscaling, real-time forecasting, artificial intelligence...view more
Scientia Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor Mitchell Harley is an expert in coastal erosion and how it impacts coastlines worldwide. His research entails the use of innovative technologies to improve understanding and management of coastal erosion and other coastal hazards. This includes new coastal remote sensing techniques, wave climate downscaling, real-time forecasting, artificial intelligence and citizen science. His expert opinions on coastal hazards are regularly provided to Australian and international media, including BBC, CNN and major Australian print and television networks. In 2017, Mitchell founded the CoastSnap citizen science initiative, which is now the largest coastal monitoring program worldwide and active in 35 countries on six continents.
My Qualifications
2004 BEng (Environmental) UNSW Sydney
2004 BSc (Oceanography/Meteorology) UNSW Sydney
2009 PhD UNSW Sydney
My Research Activities
Some examples of technologies and programs developed by A/Prof. Harley and his team include:
My Engagement
MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
A/Prof Harley provides commentary on coastal erosion issues for a range of media outlets, including the Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC and the BBC. Some examples are listed below:
- A beach photo with a difference (ABC The World Today, 6 Jan 2025)
- Become a beach scientist this summer and help monitor changing coastlines (The Conversation, 5 Jan 2024)
- Millions of satellite images reveal how beaches around the Pacific vanish or replenish in El Niño and La Niña years (The Conversation, 10 Feb 2023)
- Wild weather eats into Sydney beaches (Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 2022)
- ‘Like 20 tip trucks pouring sand on every metre-wide strip’: how extreme storms can replenish beaches, not just erode them (The Conversation, 12 May 2022)
- Examining the impact of La Niña on our beaches (Swell Net, 21 July, 2022)
- Collaroy residents decry seawall as communities brace for erosion (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 Nov 2021)
- The early warning system being developed to shore up Australia's beaches (Sydney Morning Herald, 15 Feb 2020)
- Sydney weather: Collaroy and Narrabeen suffer beach erosion as huge waves steal 25m of sand (The Guardian, 10 Feb 2020)
- People power utilised to help keep track of coastal erosion (ABC Radio, 2 Jan 2019)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1329-7945